Najib: Don’t relaunch 1MDB probe just for witch hunt

Najib insisted that the previouc PAC spent six months on its probe then and had cleared him of wrongdoing. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 — Any renewed Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigation on 1MDB must be motivated by truth and not blame, said former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Responding to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s plan to restart the parliamentary watchdog’s investigation into the state investement firm, Najib insisted that the previouc PAC spent six months on its probe then and had cleared him of wrongdoing.

Coincidentally, the Najib administration had recruited the then chairman of the PAC while it was in the middle of its inquiry into 1MDB.

“If they want to reopen investigations, I have nothing to object, as we are looking for the truth.

“So if investigations are reopened, don’t do it with a sentiment of trying to look for faults, now they are the government with the people’s mandate to control the administration,” he said.

Najib further argued that the PAC’s inquiry was predicated on the Auditor-General’s report on 1MDB.

He then pointed out that the PAC comprised lawmakers who were then still in the Opposition.

“It was concluded and endorsed by the PAC that I had not done anything wrong as the prime minister and minister of finance,” he said.

Najib added the new Pakatan Harapan government should instead focus their attention towards efforts of nation building.

“They should be sourcing for avenues to produce new ideas and sources of income, ways to move the economy forward and to help the people,” he added

Lim earlier filed a motion in Parliament seeking for the PAC and the Auditor-General to both reopen their respective investigations into 1MDB.